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Sleuth, Paul Phillips And The IABF

New Anthony Burgess material found in Manchester's independent art foundation

Published on June 15th 2011.

Sleuth is a sideways glance at the city every week, it's the truth, but Sleuth's truth. We give £25 for every story/rumour and piece of absurdity you find for us to print. We ask for the money back if any legal action follows.Follow Sleuth on twitter@Sleuth

Ah - the accidents of life, the unexpected encounters.

As Burgess said: "Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, snore, and you sleep alone."

Sleuth was wandering the city yesterday evening when his chum Mr Frost of Manchester University Press rang to say come and meet Paul Phillips at the Midland Hotel.

Paul PhillipsPhillips is an urbane and interesting American gent and conductor who has written and performed more Anthony Burgess music than any other living human. He’s also written the Manchester University Press published Clockwork Counterpoint.

This is about the late Harpurhey-born novelist’s prolific musical output. Famous for literary works such as Clockwork Orange and the Enderby series Burgess, according to Phillips, “viewed his music as par with his writing even though he scarcely made a penny from it. The two parts of his life, music and books, were completely enmeshed and complementary.”

Phillips is to play some of the writer’s music at the International Anthony Burgess Foundation on Cambridge Street on Thursday 16 June.

“I’ve been there all day,” he said to Sleuth on Tuesday, “looking through their archive. In the book I describe how a Texan tuba player wrote to Burgess asking if he’d ever written for the tuba. Burgess decided to write a tuba rhapsody and mentions it in a letter.

“I thought he had died before he’d got started. But in the archive they’ve found it, or the part that Burgess had completed. I saw at least ten pieces there that have been lying around in boxes all this time. It’s exciting. Burgess's music is complex and clever.”

Burgess died in 1993 so finding new material is welcome.

Thursday’s event is at 6.30pm and is free.

Sleuth, Frost and Phillips drank a beer together in the Midland.

Anthonyb1Sleuth had suggested Burgess’s own creation, the Hangman’s Blood: a pint glass with doubles of the following gin, whisky, rum, port, brandy, a small bottle of stout and topped with Champagne. They declined.

So Sleuth found Gordo and they mixed some up. Sleuth should have recovered for Phillips' preformance.

As Burgess said: "Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, snore, and you sleep alone."

International Anthony Burgess Foundation Events

16 June, 6.30pm

Clockwork Counterpoint: the music of Anthony Burgess

Clockwork Counterpoint is the first major study of the music and literature of Anthony Burgess, composed by Paul Phillips. He will be discussing Burgess’s life as a talented composer. Joining him will be tenor Peter Kelly, performing songs from Burgess’s musical version of ‘Ulysses’, ‘Blooms of Dublin.’

Free, no booking required. Refreshments provided.

21 June, 6.30pm

Redeye photography network: Len Grant

Len Grant’s new project, ‘Reclaim’ follows a charity’s work with young people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods in Manchester. Through words, pictures (and a cartoon), Grant profiles the young people, the activities and gives a personal account of this exhilarating project.

Literature North West: design seminar with David Pearson and Alistair Hall

David Pearson is best known for his work on Penguin’s Great Ideas, Great Loves and Great Journeys series, along with Pocket Penguin classics. Pearson creates simple, identifiable covers and in 2007 he was included in The Guardian’s list of ‘Britain’s Top 50 Designers’. Alistair Hall worked as part of the same design team at Penguin before setting up his own design company, We Made This. His clients include; the RSA, Crafts Council, Teenage Cancer Trust, Twickenham Literature Festival and Nick Hornby’s Ministry of Stories project.

Free, booking required. Book

1 July, 6.30pm

Literature Across Frontiers: Poetry Connections

Poetry Connections is an amalgamation of European and Indian poets who met in 2010 in South India. Poetry Connections uses translation and choreography to show what happens when poetic cultures encounter each other. UK poets W.N. Herbert and Zoe Skoulding welcome Bengali poet Sampurna Chattarji, radical Tamil activist-poet Meena Kandasamy, poet and editor Robin Ngangom and Swiss German-language poet Raphael Urweider. Kerala poet K. Satchidanandan will also be joining them.

The event is produced by Literature Across Frontiers, the German Book Office New Delhi and is supported by the British Council, Pro Helvetia and the Culture Programme of the European Commission.

Free, no booking required.

International Anthony

Burgess Foundation

Engine House

Chorlton Mill

3 Cambridge Street

Manchester

M1 5BY

0161 235 0776

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